TriMet adds Siemens Type 4 LRVs to system

Light rail riders throughout Portland’s TriMet system last weekend began boarding the agency’s new Type 4 cars, built by SiemensTransportation Systems, Inc., as the agency put the first of 22 Type 4s into revenue service.

TriMet had been testing its initial cars (photo at left) throughout the system throughout early summer, notching 1,000 miles on each vehicle in test runs before opening them up to passengers. All 22 cars are scheduled for delivery by October.

TriMet’s purchase is officially attributed to the targeted Sept. 12 launch of its Green Line, linking Portland State University to Clackamas Town Center in nearby Clackamas, Ore. But the new trains will run throughout the existing system both before and after the Green Line opens.

Siemens says the Type 4 is in operation in Houston, San Diego, and Charlotte, N.C., as well as in Paris. Costing $3.75 million per car, a two-car unit is seven feet longer than TriMet’s existing light rail cars but weighs 11,000 pounds less.